Delasin's shot aids victory
A 40-foot sand shot helped Tammie Green and Paul McFadden win the Butler Wick Celebrity Shootout.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
VIENNA -- At 6 a.m. Tuesday, Dorothy Delasin was practicing her golf game at Squaw Creek Country Club.
She worked very hard on her bunker shot game, spending a great deal of time in the many Squaw Creek traps.
At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Delasin, the two-time defending champion of the Giant Eagle Classic, was back in the bunker.
This time, she hit a 40-foot sand shot to within two feet of the hole to help her team of Tammie Green and Paul McFadden win the Butler Wick Celebrity Shootout in a chip-off.
Delasin, who lives in San Francisco, and Green, another two-time champion of this tournament and from Ohio, were teamed with the former Youngstown State and NFL kicker.
Second win in row
It was the second straight shootout victory for Green, who won with Donna Andrews last year when Green sank the winning putt on the 18th green.
This year, they defeated the team of Pat Hurst, Danielle Ammaccapane and WKBN Channel 27 newscaster Dave Sess.
Hurst hit her sand shot three feet from the hole to put the pressure on the champions.
"I don't know if it was pressure, since this is more of a fun event, but I knew that I had that shot because I was out here at 6 this morning practicing my bunker shots," Delasin said.
"This was the final hole and it was all or nothing, so we really had nothing to lose," Delasin said.
Green called the shot tremendous.
"She started off by ripping a big drive down the middle," Green said. "And then she came so close to making the birdie putt, which would have won it right three.
"And then [she] made that sensational trap shot to win it," Green said. "What a clutch effort that was.
"These shootouts are so much fun," Green said. "And when you win, it kind of puts you in the right frame of mind going into the tournament. I know it helped me last year."
Green finished second to Delasin a year ago when she just missed a birdie chip on the 18th green.
Delasin won her first Giant Eagle title in 2000, beating Hurst on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. Last year, she again came from behind, this time fighting off Green and Se Ri Pak to win.
Challenging job
"It is really difficult to defend your title, but for a three-peat that is even that much more difficult," Delasin said. "I need to work on my putting some. If that comes around, who knows what may happen on Sunday?"
The Butler Wick Shootout, which last year began including celebrity golfers, included five teams of two LPGA professionals and one celebrity.
This year's field included four former champions, including two-time champion Michelle McGann and 1993 champion Nancy Lopez.
The team of Janice Moodie, Rachael Teske (last weekend's Jamie Farr winner) and WYTV Channel 33 sportscaster Bob Hannon, was the first team eliminated.
That team lost to Delasin-Green-McFadden in a chip-off on the 10th hole.
Second eliminated
The second team eliminated had McGann, Jen Hanna and Clear Channel Radio personality Dan Rivers. They were eliminated by Green-Delasin-McFadden.
Lopez, Sherri Steinhauer and WFMJ Channel 21 sportscaster Mike Case made up the third eliminated team when McFadden, the YSU assistant athletic director, put a 40-foot putt within a foot of the hole.
"It was nothing but sheer luck," McFadden said. "There were a couple of times I wanted to take my shoe off and kick that little ball."
The winning professionals shared a $4,000 first prize from Butler Wick, which donated the $10,000 purse.